Rep. Deb Gardner to run for Boulder County commissioner's post

LONGMONT -- State Rep. Deb Gardner is running for a Boulder County commissioner's seat rather than seeking re-election to the Colorado Legislature from House District 11.

Gardner, a Longmont Democrat, issued a Thursday evening news release announcing her candidacy for the Board of County Commissioners' District 2 seat up for election next year.

Gardner, who won a two-year term in the House District 11 seat in 2010, acknowledged in a news release that she's entering an already-crowded field for the commissioner's post now held by Lyons Democrat Ben Pearlman, who's term-limited and cannot seek re-election to the county board in 2012.

Four people, all Democrats, had already announced their candidacies for the District 2 county board seat.

"I'm looking forward to a robust debate about the issues and the variety of skills and experience that we would bring to the job," Gardner said in a statement.

Gardner said her own 25 years of accounting and business experience could contribute an important perspective to the three-member Board of County Commissioners.

"In Boulder County, we pride ourselves on our innovative ideas around energy, water and land use," Gardner said. "At the same time, we are facing the real possibility of flat to declining county revenue just as needs are expected to increase.

"The importance of maintaining a robust safety net for our citizens -- children, family and adults alike -- is paramount," Gardner said.

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She said her service on the House Economic and Business Development Committee and the Legislative Audit Committee this year "has brought home to me the importance of having someone at the table who can analyze financial information and make the critical decisions that will define our success in the future."

Gardner, a former Boulder County Democratic Party chairwoman, has worked as a senior accountant for Eco-Cycle Inc., an assistant controller for Western Disposal Services and a general accounting manager and accounting supervisor for Head Sports in Boulder. She has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Metro State College, Denver, as well as a bachelor's in biology from Knox College.

Gardner filed her candidate's affidavit on Tuesday, according to the Colorado Secretary of State's website. The four people who already had announced their candidacies for the District 2 seat on the Board of County Commissioners, all of them Democrats, are: Kai Abelkis of Niwot, Boulder Community Hospital's sustainability coordinator; Leslie Irwin of Longmont, a policy analyst on the commissioners' staff; Peggy Jackson of Longmont, a retired Boulder County government human resources manager; and Bill Van Dusen of Longmont, an attorney specializing in tax law.

No Republicans have yet publicly announced their candidacies or filed the paperwork for that District 2 seat on the Boulder County board.

Gardner's decision not to seek re-election to the House District 11 seat makes that a so-called "open" seat. No one else has yet announced his or her candidacy for that seat, which -- under boundaries approved by the Colorado Reapportionment Commission earlier this week -- would include most of Longmont and would no longer be shared with north Boulder.

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